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Grateful thanks to all those that have provided many of the articles, references and details in these pages
This is a non-profit site |
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What of the telescope today
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Walking east from Lyford Road into the light shrub along the narrow path reveals a slight depression in the path ahead - this lines up well with both the historic and the archeolgical evidence as being the place where this huge telescope and its tower once stood.
courtesy Greg Smye-Rumsby
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A visit to the site today would reveal nothing - except for a slight depression in the ground where the huge tower once stood proud of the flat landscape.
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The bricks were employed to aid in the erection of an hotel visible a few hundred yards off |
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The ground at the site is covered in shrub and a few trees. The unmade path leading from Lyford Road onto the site is somewhat bumpy and often overgrown with brambles and stinging nettles. Although, the drepression is not that clear, the path cuts right across it and dips as it does so. At the time of the Big Dig in 2004 this 'dip' was not picked up at all by the amateur archeologists until the last few hours of the two day dig.
If you are planning a visit, then download our Visitors pack, it tells of the telescope, the men who built it and their desperate attempts at trying to work with such an awkward and difficult instrument.
At the junction of Belvue Road and Trinity Road stands the old Surrey Tavern
- now an italian restaurant. It is here that the bricks used in the Craig Telescope's tower construction can be found. You can see the bricks are of a different colour and that they were once part of the 64-foot tower which held the enormous tube of the telescope. |
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At the corner of Belvue Road and Trinity Road looking south east stands the old Surrey Tavern. It was during the erection of this hotel that many of the bricks from the Craig Telescope were employed in building the south part of the building. Note that to the right of the photograph the bricks change colour. It is most probable that it was these bricks that were reused from the telescope's tower, providing a cheap alternative to new bricks.
courtesy Greg Smye-Rumsby
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One of the brick fragments found during the Big Dig compared to the bricks in the Surrey Tavern. The correlation is obvious.
courtesy Greg Smye-Rumsby
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This map covers the whole area around Wandsworth and Earlsfield indicating the exact whereabouts of the Craig Telescope site. Note the rail stations and the main roads nearby. The Rivers Wandle and Thames lie to the West and North. To the South East of the telescope's position is the old Surrey Tavern - today a modern accommodation with a restaurant on the ground floor.
courtesy Google Maps and Greg Smye-Rumsby
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The blue circle marks where the tower of the Craig Telescope once stood directly opposite Frewin Road.
courtesy Greg Smye-Rumsby |
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Getting to the Site
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The telescope as it might appear if it were still standing on the Wandsworth Common.
Courtesy Greg Smye-Rumsby |
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The easiest method is by car as there is plenty of parking in Lyford Road right adjacent to the site of the telescope. Although there is nothing to see today it is worth noting that the ground around is quite flat and that at the time of the telescope there were virtually no trees to block the far horizon.
Arriving by train at Wandsworth Common railway station is an alternative and the walk can be quite pleasant. |
